Suggestions: 1) Read the “tiny meditation” before and/or after you read the Bible chapter to help make a self-appllication of the scriptures read. 2) Want to use both your eye gate and ear gate in taking in the Word? Just click the “Read” chapter to get started.

I am not safe when I obey the law, but when I love it. I am not safe when I can explain the law, but when I meditate upon it with pleasure. The river of all blessing may flow at my feet, but thirst alone can lift its waters along the channels of my life, and out into leaf and flower.

I am on the winning side, when I side with God! Let the heathen rage; God will laugh. Let the worldlings vaunt themselves; God will turn their triumphs into dust. The earth is the inheritance of my Christ; therefore the earth is my inheritance also.

In the presence of my enemies,–I shall go to sleep! It shall not be the sleep of carelessness, but the sleep of confidence. And I shall awake in safety, refreshed, for the Lord will sustain me; His shield will ever be over my head.

Upon my bed, in the awed night watches, I will think of God, and be still. Upon my bed I will lay me down in peace, and sleep. The awe and the peace both speak of Thee, O my Protector. The fear of Thee casts me at Thy feet, and there the love of Thee casts out the fear.

In the morning shalt Thou hear my voice, O God; in the morning, in the privacy of my own familiar place. And also Thy house shall hear me, and Thy holy temple shall know me. My worship before men shall be built upon my secret prayers; and my secret prayers shall be quickened and enlarged by my worship in the open. Thus shall my whole life be made a communion with God.

Surely many are they that seek after my soul. My enemies are without, hostilities of evil men, sneers of unbelieving men, temptations from crafty men, hindrances thrust in my way by careless men. Far more are my enemies within, the sins that so easily beset me. But Thou, O Lord, wilt deliver my soul, and all my enemies shall turn back. I shall pray to Thee, and they will be ashamed.

What trouble is greater than an undeserved enemy? When my motives are misconstrued, and my words wrested from their meaning, my honey turned to gall, and my outstretched hands interpreted as a threat, life is indeed awry, and bitterness enters my soul. But God does not misinterpret, and God shall interpret me to the world. Indeed, what care I for the world, while God interprets me to Himself?

Surely the heavens, so lordly high, shall abase my pride. Surely in all space, reaching out endlessly, there is room for all things save one,–the self-conceit of man! Thy name, Thy glory, O Lord, my God; and let me have done with even the thought of my name and my glory!

He that judges the nations will judge me. And as I see Him judging the nations, I know that His judgment of me will be kind and right. He is patient with the nations, long-suffering and merciful. When He punishes, there is no escape from the sentence; but He does not willingly afflict the children of men. And I need all of His mercy.

Am I of those that say in their hearts, “There is no God?” Do I cheat myself with the thought. “He will not require it?” Let me examine my soul, that it be not guilty of such final folly. One thing let me never forget, that God knows, that God remembers.

The Lord is in His holy temple. And where is His holy temple? Is it in the heavens? Yes. Is it on earth? Yes. It is where God is. God never leaves His holy temple. And what if I obtain God for my heart?

My lips are not my own. It would be a dreadful thing if my words were my own. I who cannot keep my heart, how could I keep my lips? I whose deeds go so sadly awry, how could I control the wings of words? Do Thou, O Lord, govern my mouth, for by my words I am justified, or condemned.

“How long?” I often cry. “How long this sorrow? How long this delay? How long this temptation and this failure? How long, O Lord, how long?” But that is when I look upon my lot, and do not look upon Thee, who orderest my lot. When I look upon Thee, my heart begins to sing.

I am a captive now. Captive to dread. Captive to doubt. Captive to sin. Captive to misery and weakness. But the Lord will bring back my captivity. Its end is certain, however the chains may press upon me; for I trust in God. And in that thought the chains almost become garlands.

Uprightness, innocence, heart truth, love to neighbors, a governed tongue, honorable and merciful dealings with all men,–“He that doeth these things shall never be moved.” But who can do them? On what sliding foundation do we all stand! Ah, let mine be the righteousness of the One Only Good! Ah, let me be founded upon the Rock!

What words can I find to praise Thee, O my God! I have no good beyond Thee, no safety, no joy, no hope. The thought of Thee is ever before me; and if at any time it is not before me, that is a time of darkness and sorrow. Ever be Thou mine, O my God!

I do not pray to be saved from the world, but from worldliness; nor from proud men, but from pride; nor from others at all, but from myself. Save me from myself, O God; save me to Thyself! Let me behold Thy face day by day, and ever more and more clearly, until I awake in Thy kingdom, and am satisfied with the perfect vision.

Pharaoh is in pursuit of me, with all his host. His chariots shine in the sun; I hear the shouts of his horsemen. All the troops of ungodliness haste after my soul. But Thou hast made a way for me through the sea. Thou dost cause a storm to break over their heads. None that trust in Thee are ever confounded.

As the stars gleam above me in the heavens, so brightly shine the words of the Book. As the sun is king of the sky, so the Lord Jesus is King of Light in the Book. Oh, may I learn the astronomy of the Bible!

What banner do I really follow? Not the fluttering cloth that men see, but the true ensign that God sees, and that really leads me on? Oh, if it bears the token of the world, a golden coin, a crown, a bunch of grapes, let me tear it from the staff, and let me raise in its stead over my life the white-red banner of the cross!

“My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” If even Christ cried out thus, why not I? Because Christ thus cried out, and received an answer, for Himself, and me, and all men. Because His despair received the eternal assurance of union with the Father, and with all Goodness and Love and Joy!

The Lord is my Shepherd. He is my Shepherd if I will let Him lead me. He is my Shepherd if I choose His still waters and green pastures. He is not my Shepherd if I choose the barren rocks and the desert sands. Lord, wilt Thou be my Shepherd indeed!

The Lord will show me His ways. He will teach me His paths. He will guide me in His truth. He will guide me in His judgment. He will instruct me in the way of His choosing. It must be the way of His choosing. He will not guide me in my way.

I have walked in my integrity; judge me, O God! For I have trusted in Thy integrity. I have washed my hands in innocency; judge me, O God! For I have washed them in the blood from Thy altar. I will walk in my integrity; judge me, O God! For I have been redeemed from my unrighteousness.

Though a host is encamped against me, God is the stronghold round about me. Though persistent enemies seek me out, God will hide me in His tent. Though an ocean of trouble rage around me, God will lift me up on a rock. I will not be proud, for I am very weak; but I will not fear, for God is very strong.

Men may close their ears against me, but God is obliged by His very nature to hear me. If it were possible for God not to hear my supplications, or, hearing, not to answer in the way that is best, God would not be God. How is it, then, that my prayers have so little confidence?

Do I not hear all other voices more than the voice of God? That voice which is so much better worth hearing than all other voices! It is everywhere to be heard, yet I hear it in so few places. Is it not because I fill my soul with the foolish clamor of the world?

My weeping was only for a night; joy has come in the morning. Joy comes always in the morning, when one has spent the night with Thee, O my God! Every hour of darkness, however black with distress, is preparing it. Beneath the darkness Thy sun is steadily moving, bringing it. And nothing is surer than the sunrise.

Whatever terrible thing assails me shall have no terror for me. Every foe shall bring a present in his hand. All slanders shall be cryptograms of praise. This is because Thou, my Father, art in all things, and because I trust in Thee.

God be praised for the human conscience! God be praised for the agonies of remorse! God be praise that He does not leave the sinner at rest! It was my distress led to confession, and confession led to pardon, and pardon led to peace. Blessed the road, however rough, that leads to such a home!

It is good to rejoice in the world, but it is better to rejoice in the world’s Creator. It is good to value beauty, but it is better to value the Beautiful One. Praise is comely, but the nobler its object, the more ennobling it is.

If I am proud, let me be proud of my God! My soul shall make her boast in Him. If I am proud of father, and mother, sister and brother, wife and children, how much more of Him who gave me all these! If I am glad of my own abilities, how much more shall I rejoice in Him who fashioned them and sustains them from day to day!

The Lord has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. My enemies are the enemies of the Lord, so long as I am the Lord’s. That the Lord’s cause may triumph, let them be confounded! That their own true cause may triumph, let them be confounded!

Under the shadow of Thy wings! Peace is there, and safety. Loving-kindness is there, and all satisfying pleasures. Light is there, in that shadow; light more illuminating than the brightest sunshine. And life is there, the life that never dies, under the shadow of Thy wings.

I am guilty of many sins, but worrying is so incessant that perhaps in its aggregate it exceeds them all. I fret over the wrong doing of others, over my own misfortunes, over the failures of yesterdays and the fears of today. And all the time God is in His heaven! Yea, all the time God is on His earth!

I cut myself, I bruise myself, I weaken myself, I poison myself, and when my wounds rankle and my strength fails, I make hold to cry out against the Lord! It would be just if the heavens should open with a thunderbolt for my head, if the earth should open and swallow me up!

Few are the days in which I may yet do well. Each nightfall brings me nearer my final accounting, each dawn may be the dawn of the judgment day. O that I may make haste to serve the Lord! Today, while each minute grasps the skirts of an eternity, today, ere it is too late, let me make haste to be wise!

Scroll of the Law, Psalm 40:7Such offerings as can be laid upon an altar and burned with fire, or placed in a contribution box and put in a bank, are little pleasing to my God, without my heart. One thing He desires, and that one thing must be the sum of my desires,–that I should give Him myself. How strange that He, the Lord of the universe, should be kept out of this one desire!—how strange, and how sad!

Not merely the poor in purse, but the poor in strength, the poor in friends, the poor in hope and cheer,–these are my poor, because they are my God’s. They are mine to know. They are mine to help and comfort. They are mine, yea, I see sometimes that they are the very best of my possessions.

Mine is a thirsty soul, in a thirsty land. I pant after something, I seldom know what. Ever it is Thee, O God, for which I pant, even when I do not know it. Ever, though I drink from many fountains, my soul is thirsty till it drinks of Thee.

“As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so paneth my soul after thee.” Psalm 42:1

I follow the mirages of the world. Fair over the desert they falsely shine, and tantalize my soul with promise of shelter and refreshment. Over and over they cheat me, but I follow them just the same. O send out Thy light, which is Thy truth, and let it lead me to Thy holy hill!

How strange it sometimes sounds, to call upon God to awake! He sleep, who made sleep? And yet I often raise that impious cry. I often charge the Lord with forgetfulness, with carelessness. Why, if God could forget, if God could cease to care, in that instant the foundations of the world would return to chaos, and the universe would cease to be.

Let me not, because it is mine, fail to sing the praise of the goodness of God! These gifts He has given me, are they to my credit? Nay, rather to my great discredit, because I have made so little of them! It is false modesty that keeps me from singing their praises, for they are all of God.

How instinctive is my recourse to God? Do I turn to Him at the first hint of misfortune, or do I seek rather to exhaust my other supports, and go to Him as the last resource? Not thus does a father like his son to depend upon him, or a mother her daughter.

God shall choose my inheritance for me. I shall not choose it myself. Sometimes I wish to choose it for myself. Sometimes God gives me my choice. And then what folly is in my choice! And how unwise it is to choose, when perfect wisdom is ready to make the selection for me!

My God is God forever and ever. The city He establishes is forever established. To death and beyond, for generation after generation, unmoved, unchanged, the one Permanence of the universe! And shall I build except upon His laws?

What wealth I have, whether much or little, what reputation I have, whether much or little, what ability I have, whether much or little, let it all be one. My wealth I must leave to others, my worldly lore will perish with the world, and in heaven there’s many a child that will be honored before Alexander!

If I have set up God’s altar in my heart, if I burn there the fire of sincere devotion, what cares my God for other temple, or other sacrifices? Other altars are good, but as the symbols of this altar. Other temples are to be raised and honored, but only that this temple may be raised and filled with song.

There is no delight like the delight of cleanness. There is no strength like the strength of purity. There is no beauty like the beauty of whiteness. And this cleanness, purity, and beauty come from no spring of earth. Wash Thou me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Am I among those that make not God their strength, but trust in the very abundance that God has given them? Do I boast of my goods rather than give praise for my God? Let me take warning from other fools in their folly. Let me behold and see that there is no strength save in the Almighty.

If I live as if there were no God, no God to protect, no God to console, no God to punish, what am I but the fool that said in his heart, “There is no God?” What is the atheism of the lips, compared with the atheism of the life?

There is no human help but may fall me. Human wisdom is weak, human strength falters, even human love may lapse; but when these all give way, then most of all the arms of the Lord sustain me. It is worth the failure of all else to know that the Lord never fails!

How often have I also, like David, longed for wings to fly from all my trouble, to some wilderness lodge, where I might be at rest! But the Lord has not given me wings, but a burden instead. And He bids me remain where I am, and carry it. Ah, but He is ready to carry it with me!

If God numbers every hair of my head, surely He has regard to every tear of my eyes! He records them in His book, He treasures them in His bottle,–tears of sympathy, tears of repentance, tears of excess of grateful joy!

They are all about me,–the liers in wait, the traps set, the pits dug, the net cunningly spread. I cannot move without peril. How dare I move without thee, my God! But with Thee, the ambush is discovered, the traps are sprung empty, the net is blown away, and my enemies fall into their own pits!